What is it between car manufacturers and football teams? Football pitches have no wheels, and roads have no balls, yet the two always seem to be links. Here's how...

The new 2012-2013 football season is here! In the mega-money world of premiership football, sponsorship plays an ever more important role. BMW did the Olympics, Audi sits in the saddle in polo, and Mercedes has teed up with golf, but there's only one sport in town for big brand exposure: football. The beautiful game succeeds in attracting pretty much every car brand in some way or other.

The latest announcement sees Chevrolet bravely partnering up with both Liverpool FC and Manchester United. The amount Chevrolet paid for its sponsor's rights is not known, but it obviously thinks the publicity is going to shift Aveos - although probably not to Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard.

The Chevy-Man Utd deal is big - Chevrolet is only the fifth shirt sponsor in the club's history. The sponsorship won't begin until 2014 but Chevrolet already has a wheel in Old Trafford's car park: in May 2012, it slotted in as the club's car sponsor.